Bonding
by Salvaje
Summary: Naruto has to take care of a sick Sasuke.


Title: Bonding  
Author: Salvaje  
Pairing: Slight NaruSasu  
Summary: Naruto has to take care of a sick Sasuke.

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As usual, Kakashi-sensei was late. But not only was he late, Sasuke was late too. And Sasuke was never ever late. This made Naruto start to wonder. _What was that Teme doing? _He looked around on the bridge that was supposed to be Team 7's meeting spot. He saw Sakura, leaning on the edge of the bridge, looking worried.

"Ano…Naruto…?" Naruto's head shot up as he looked towards Sakura.

"Yeah?"

"Umm…you wouldn't happen to know where Sasuke is, would you?" she asked worriedly.

Naruto looked around. Sasuke still hadn't shown up and Kakashi was over an hour and a half late. Naruto knew that Sasuke would never miss a practice, even if he had to drag himself there. He glanced around one more time, but still, no sign of Sasuke or Kakashi for that matter.

"No idea." He finally replied to her. He saw worry in her eyes again and quickly said,

"But I'm sure he's fine. You know Sasuke, he'll turn up! Don't worry!"

"Thanks Naruto." Sakura said with a smile. Suddenly with a loud _poof _Kakashi appeared on the bridge holding one of his favorite books.

"Yo." He said with a smile.

"Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke-kun is just as late as you are and still isn't here! Do you know where he is?" Sakura practically screamed.

"Sakura, calm down. Everything's alright." He said calmly.

She looked up at him confused. Naruto also looked up at Kakashi with a questioning face. Kakashi sighed and looked up from his book.

"Sasuke had to get his tonsils taken out." Kakashi said simply.

"Tonsils? What are tonsils?" Naruto asked.

"Tonsils are areas of lymphoid tissue on either side of the throat." Sakura said interjected quickly.

"Which means…what?" Naruto replied dumbly.

"Which means now he has an extremely sore throat, fever and won't be training for a while." Kakashi snapped at Naruto.

"_And _he will also need someone to look after him for a bit." He added.

Sakura squealed so loud that Naruto thought his ears were going to fall off. But before either one of them could say or do anything else, Kakashi held up a hand.

"Not so fast Sakura." He said with his one eye closed. "Naruto will be the one taking care of Sasuke, so you can have the day off"

"But, Kakashi-sensei, I'm more experienced when it comes to medicine then Naruto is." Sakura stated defensively.

"And I'm sure Sasuke-kun wouldn't want Naruto taking care of him anyway!" She added with a smirk.

"Which is precisely why he will do it. Think of it as a team bonding mission, Naruto." Kakashi said with a smile.

"But…" Naruto began; he highly doubted Sasuke would want to 'bond' with him, especially if he was sick.

"No butts, here take these." Kakashi dug around in his pockets and pulled out a key, thermometer, and bottle of disgusting looking medicine. He handed them to Naruto and said, "Here's his house key, check his temperature every hour and make sure he takes his medicine every four hours." And with that Kakashi turned away from Naruto and _poofed _out of sight again.

Naruto turned to see a disappointed Sakura walking away slowly with her head down. He sighed and began to make his way towards Sasuke's apartment. It was a pretty short walk and in what seemed like no time he was standing in front of Sasuke's door. He raised his hand up to knock but then remembered that Kakashi had given him a key. He rummaged around his pocket and pulled out the key. He unlocked the door and slowly opened it.

He felt weird being inside Sasuke's apartment. It was the first time he had ever set foot in it. He walked down a small hallway which lead to a kitchen that opened up into a living room. There were also two doors. One to his right and one to his left. He opened up the one on the right first and saw a bathroom. He closed the door and walked to the one on the left.

When he opened it he saw a bed and a nightstand in it. The problem was, there was no Sasuke. _Surely he's not crazy enough to be training right now. _Naruto thought. He walked back through the kitchen and into the living room. There was a couch and a pretty nice TV in it. Naruto noticed that the TV was on and walked further into the room. And there, on the couch was Sasuke, fast asleep.

He was wearing a grey sweatshirt and baggy black shorts. Naruto noticed how cutely his raven black hair was covering his eyes. He looked peaceful but fevered at the same time. There was a light sweat on his forehead and he was shivering. It unnerved Naruto, seeing Sasuke like this. He placed his hand on Sasuke's forehead and relized that he was burning up.

Naruto pulled the thermomater out of his pocket and gently put it in Sasuke's mouth. He was surprised that Sasuke didn't wake up. Normally, Sasuke would be demanding why Naruto was in his house by now. _He must be really sick. _The thermomater beeped and Naruto took it out of Sasuke's mouth and looked at it. It was way above normal.

He decided that Sasuke should probably take his medicine before he got any worse. Naruto put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and carefully shook it. Sasuke didn't do anything.

"Sasuke?" He said softly. Sasuke's eye's slowly opened. He looked up at Naruto in utter confusion.

"N-Naruto?" He said an extremely weak voice that made Naruto flinch.

"Umm…Kakashi-sensei told me I have to talk care of you till your feeling better." Naruto replied quickly.

"Oh." Was all Sasuke managed to say.

The two sat there in awkward silence. Sasuke looking at the ground, and Naruto looking in the opposite direction. They both didn't seem to know what to say to each other.

"I don't need you taking care of me."

Naruto looked up to see Sasuke standing up and starting to walk into the kitchen.

"What are you talking about Teme? You look and sound like crap! Not to mention you have a pretty high fever." Naruto shot back.

"Which reminds me," He added, "Kakashi-sensei said you needed to take this every four hours."

Naruto pulled out the bottle and placed it on Sasuke's counter. Sasuke took it up and looked at it. He then opened a drawer, pulled out a spoon, poured the rancid looking stuff in it and placed it in his mouth. The moment he swallowed it he gagged. It was probably the worst tasting stuff Sasuke had ever had in his life.

Naruto stood there watching Sasuke splutter and gag into the sink. He walked over to him and placed his hand on Sasuke's back, rubbing it soothingly. Sasuke immediately tensed up. He looked at Naruto who was smiling.

"There, now that wasn't so bad was it?" He still said with a smile. He received a death glare from Sasuke.

"Well you should probably get some more sleep." Naruto added quickly.

Sasuke didn't say anything as he walked back to the couch, plopped down and began to watch TV again. Naruto stared. _Why does he have to be so stubborn? _Well, if Naruto would be spending the whole day here he wasn't just going to stand in the kitchen all day. He walked over to the couch and sat down by Sasuke. Sasuke glared at him but then turned his attention back to the TV.

They had been watching for about 15 minutes when Naruto felt a weight on his shoulder. He looked up to see Sasuke's head on his shoulder, fast asleep. _What ever had been in that medicine must have made him drowsy,_ Naruto thought.

Naruto didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to shove him off and vow to tell all the girls in town about this. But the other part of him felt…somewhat relaxed by it. Sasuke's slow, steady breathing seemed to calm him. He looked down again at Sasuke. He looked so vulnerable like this. It made Naruto feel slightly uneasy. Usually Sasuke was so tense and alert.

Naruto pushed the thought to the back of his head and began watching the show again, with Sasuke sleeping on his shoulder. After a few infomercials, soap operas, and local programming, Naruto finally felt Sasuke shift. Sasuke lifted his head up and looked around tiredly. He did look a good deal better, Naruto noticed.

"Hey, you feeling better?" He asked.

Sasuke shrugged and looked back at the television. They sat in silence for a moment till Naruto heard Sasuke quietly saying something. He turned his attention back to Sasuke.

"What was that?" Naruto asked loudly.

"…Arigato…Naruto."


End file.
